Back In The Front Room Another studio creation I presume. A great way of driving the story along. A dialogue in song; a sonalogue perhaps. I like the variety of Ray's different voices. Quite the performance! Very enjoyable.
"Back To The Front Room" I enjoy this song. It is the story of the Kinks. I agree with @Fortuleo that it has more than a little "Subterranean Homesick Blues" in it. Plus this is the story of many bands. When you run out of songs to cover, you start making them up yourselves. I really like the understand/jam/hands rhyme Ray uses early in the song. In fact, many of the rhymes are quite clever. And it is great that Ray's father was on board with the band and is represented in this song declaring Dave bloody marvelous and telling them to forget the neighbours. This song is a lot of fun.
Ah yes, if there is a fire, a few beverages and some stories to tell, I'm in. Most of my good ones are from the 80s, when we we were hitting our teenage strides. It's cool to think of my fellow Avids all gathered around for story time. We'd get some great ones and learn a little as we go.
Back To The Front Room - What a great song. It really amazing how he tapped into the Dylan/Townes thing as @Fortuleo wisely points out. I can imagine Todd Snider singing this one.
‘Back In The Front Room’: As already pointed out, Dave gets his accolades here (and not in a manner that’s dripping with sarcasm…which is a relief). The quick guitar riff is a perfect accent. I listened for the Flash moment but, unfortunately, didn’t catch that. As Ray tells his stories I found myself thinking of Long John Baldry during this one. (‘Don’t Try To Lay No Boogie Woogie on the King Of Rock and Roll’). Ray pushes the narrative along. Story telling: I’ve mentioned before how I’ve sought out stories from those foreigners who, for whatever reason, went to Japan after the war. I’m sure there’s a wealth of material out there…but it’s like pulling teeth to get at it. Anyway, several days ago, completely out of the blue, my childhood friend sent me scanned copies of handwritten, divided by categories (Fire Department; Schools; Culture Confusion, etc), memories of Japan written up by her mother in the early 90s. Beginning with 1955. So I’m happy as can be. (And what I’m astounded by is that my friend hadn’t even read the material! Just sent it on to me unread. So I’ve been transcribing it and sending it back!) Storytelling. Wonderful.
Back in the Front Room First of all, I like the juxtaposition of “back” and “front” in the title here. What a neat track. Really unlike any style the Kinks had done, with this country (?)/folk/acoustic narrative song. I do hear a bit of the verse melody of Hatred (a Duet) in some sections here. Perhaps not a coincidence as this is really a nod to Dave’s talent here. Ray’s delivery of “…Exactly” is bloody brilliant. Almost a nod to perhaps being a bit sarcastic here, as Dave’s actual playing is unique and… what’s the word… individual. Listening several times is really required here, to get all the voices, little inflections, the big inflections, the hooks, the rhymes. I love this, but probably because we are deep fans. Not sure a casual fan would find the genius in this. But I am glad to be part of this group that can.
I do disagree with you here. One doesn’t need to be a Kinks fan, or a Ray Davies fan, to enjoy a good story. There are people who don’t, who want to get straight to the end (you got on the bus and then got off the bus, right? I don’t need to hear about the journey?—type of people) but anyone who takes delight in hearing a story unfold…and voices and exaggerated gestures are all a part of that yarn spinning…will enjoy Ray’s stories. (Whether it’s genius or not is, I think, a separate issue. Personally, I don’t see it as genius, just a good story, cleverly set to music.)
"Back In The Front Room": A nicely told story by Ray about the origins of the Kinks w/a suitable background. It could be the story about any rock band that has ever gotten together in the past 70 odd years. It's great for Ray to admit that Dave was a budding guitar genius. Also, he seems to realize that maybe being in a rock and roll band would be a great alternative to express himself artistically, as well as getting some art school babes Here's another song about the origins of a band that this reminds me of:
As I'm at loose end just now (and I don't get many of those these these day: see 2 year old daughter) I thought I'd post a few TV appearances that haven't been noted yet in advance of free form Sunday which I may be too busy on to post much. This is a few years out of timeline, but better late than never, here is the bulk of Ray's appearance on Chris Evans (not the Avengers supremo but the UK ubiquitous-to-the-point-of-annoyance-in -the-90s TV/radio presenter and media mogul) light entertainment show Don't Forget Your Toothbrush from March 1994, during which he deigns to take part in a semi-humiliating 'quiz off ' against glamourous Kinks superfan Tracy Noonan: intro:
The Quiz-off itself (Note Ray gets the name of the Kinks original moniker right but defers to the incorrect official answer of 'The Ravens')
As well as the comparatively rarely aired 'Dead End Street' (interesting that this arrangement is closer to the original rather than the Clash-i-fied version The Kinks were playing in concert contemporarily).. things get a bit scat jazz at the end too..
From the correct timeframe (ie April 1998) here's Rays appearance as a pundit on Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect. Watching this strikes me with a kind of an interesting disconnect as I think of these kinds of shows (as well as Maher himself who's still very much around) as being more of a contemporary phenomenon with everything these days so politically polarised and contentiously discussed, so it's odd to see ol' 20th Century Man Ray (billed as a 'Rock Legend': Maher must surely be a fan) in the swim of something like this. The topics du jour that evening were Viagra, (how very late 90s) a racist 90 year old, and poverty tourism:
Oct 1963 - Nov 1966 Starstruck promo video/ Days video/ Sunny Afternoon TOTP Apr 1967 - Feb 1970 Nov 1970 - Jun 1976 Feb 1977 - Dec 1983 Artificial Light or. mix Life Goes On OGWT Morphing docu of Hotelroom sessions + interview Ray + live KinKs in Vienna 1978. One For The Road - the lost videos 1981 A Woman In Love (chorus girls) Oh Tokyo live in 1982 - lyrics Jan 1984 - Dec 1993 The Early Nineties Tours Oct 1994 To The Bone All Day And All Of The Night - tv appearance Apeman - 2020 remix Tired Of Waiting For You See My Friends Death Of A Clown Waterloo Sunset - Late Show 94 Muswell Hillbilly Better Things Don't Forget To Dance Autumn Almanac Sunny Afternoon - Duo 1993 Dedicated Follower Of Fashion You Really Got Me Ray TV jingle - Sitting In The Stands Oct 1994 Waterloo Sunset 94 EP Elevator Man On The Outside Oct 1994 The Emma Freud Show Waterloo Sunset I'm Not Like Everybody Else Till The End Of The Day - full You Really Got Me All Day And All Of The Night Oct 1994 The Kelly Show 1994 Kompilations 94 Don't Forget Your Toothbrush Quiz YRGM Dead End Street Live At Konk video You Really Got Me tv performance - TOTP Till The End Of The Day BBC 94 Kinks live TOTP 1994 Dec 94 Stuttgart 1995 Dave and John Carpenter - In The Mouth Of Madness 1995 Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Concert All Day And All Of The Night alt version April 1995 Village Of The Damned (Whole Album) 1995 Kompilations Sept 1995 Ray Davies - XRay Oct 95 Ray Storyteller live New York 1996 Ray VH1 Storytellers Ray Storytellers live 1996 1996 Kompilations Jun 96 Kinks Last Koncert The Concert Mar 1997 To The Bone Re-calibrated Do It Again Celluloid Heroes Picture Book Village Green Preservation Society Do You Remember Walter Set Me Free Lola Come Dancing I'm Not Like Everybody Else Till The End Of The Day Give The People What They Want State Of Confusion Dead End Street Gallon Of Gas Days Animal - 95 (Storyteller) To The Bone - video - 96 Jools - 95 White Room - Demo - TV The Shirt My Diary Rock And Roll Fantasy live (79?) 1997 Ray Storytellers Interview 1997 Ray Irish Interview 1997 Kathy Dennis - Am I The Kind Of Girl The Date Consolation Sunny Afternoon Waterloo Sunset 1997 Kompilations - Singles/Waterloo Sunset extra info 1997 Dave Davies - Kink 1998 - Waterloo Sunset : Stories (Ray Book) The Kinks Thread Family - Kinks Kareer Konklusions 1998 Kompilations - You're Lookin Fine (live) 98 Ray and Bill Maher 1998 Ray Davies - The Storyteller Storyteller - Full Version Intro/Victoria My Name/20th Century Man London Song - video guide My Big Sister/That Ol' Black Magic/ Tired Of Waiting For You Set Me Free (instr)/ Dad and The Green Amp/Set Me Free The Front Room/See My Friends/Autumn Almanac Hunchback/Xray Art School/ Art School Babe - video Back In The Front Room August 23 2000 Ray Davies and Friends - Jane Street Theatre NY 2001 Dave Davies Fragile Violet Dreams No More Mysteries Wait Bright Lights Give Something Back Hope Long Lonely Road Open Up Your Heart Lost In Your Arms Astral Nightmare I'm Sorry Dave Creeping Jean live 2004 2005 Thanksgiving Day Ray live on Conan Obrien 2006 Ray gets top honour at BMI awards 2006 Dave - Too Much On My Mind 2010 Come Dancing play Oct 2018 Dave Davies - Decade - interview If You Are Leaving (71) Cradle To The Grace (73) Midnight Sun (73) Mystic Woman (73) The Journey (73) Shadows (73) Web Of Time (75) Mr Moon (75) - Why Islands (78) Give You All My Love (78) Within Each Day (78) Same Old Blues (78) This Precious Time (78) 2019 Kast Off Kinks with Ray 2022 Muswell/ Showbiz box 2022 Celluloid Heroes Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues Travelling Montage Travelling With My Band - I'm Going Home - You Can't Stop The Music 2022 remixes pt 1 - part 2 - part 3 Creem articles - Mar 70 - Mar 71 - Feb 72 - Nov 72 - Aug 73 - Apr 74 - Jul 74 - Aug 75 - Feb 76 - Aug 77 - Apr 78 - Aug 78 - Oct 78 - Jan 81 - May 85 - Apr 85 - Apr 87 - May 87 - Jun 87 - Jun 88 Rare Silent Video Rob Kopp has made his 1999 Kinks discography 'Down All The days Till 1992' US Chart Stats The Music Industry Machine Album flow chart Album poll graph Mick Avory Pete Quaife - interview - Kast Off Kinks - I Could See It In Your Eyes - Dead End Street Rasa Didzpetris Davies John Dalton John Gosling Jim Rodford Ian Gibbons Andy Pyle Gordon Edwards Clive Davis Bob Henrit Mark Haley - info Jakko Jaksyk
As I slowly come out of my mental haze, I'll probably be back in the trenches here.... Been a weird few days. I had to go to the shops yesterday, and I was staring at the shelves that were dancing around and making all sorts of groovy patterns, and doing weird things, until I realised I probably looked like a mental case just staring blankly into the air lol... I have probably missed most of what has been said since Wednesday, my apologies. I liked stuff, so I could keep track of where on earth I was, but even if I'd read it, it wouldn't have settled in ... Anyway, I think I'm sliding back into some kind of functional reality now, so onward and upward
"Back in the Front Room" Being from the Chicago area, we would pronounce this "Back in the frunchroom". I wish I could agree with all the praise being given to this song, but it looks like I may be the lone man out. I usually like Ray's character voices, but these lyrics and delivery are not working for me. My girlfriend commented that it sounded like a hokey hoedown. I guess it's somewhat amusing, but I can't say that I enjoy it.
Pete Mathison Ray's guitarist over this period seems to have had a minor musical career previously. According to 'Discogs': Pete Mathison was in 'Red Beans And Rice', a "British R&B band active in the Mod Revival period in the early 1980s, known for a cover of Willie Mitchell's "That Driving Beat". They seem to have released a couple of singles in 1980-1, and a self-titled LP in 1983. Pete Mathison Another source suggest that Mathison isn't on the 1980 single. CHISWICK RECORDS: Red Beans & Rice
Not yet. For these RSD releases I only have one local option in the city I live in and they did not have it (nor the Fractured Mindz reissue) even though I asked the guy who procures these releases to request these. Either they got one or the other in and sold them (doubtful) or they never bothered to get them (likely - he’s burned me before). He wasn’t in the store today for me to confront. (This is actually not a real record store. It’s a 5 ft x 5 ft section of an indoor antiques and collectibles shop for local sellers. Furniture, wall pictures, knick knacks, junk, etc. They may have around 500 new and used records max - no CDs.) Anyway I called another (real) store in another city about 45 minutes away. He didn’t have it either, but he ended up calling me back saying his distributor had 4 copies of the single and he could have it by the end of the week. I said that’s fine, so I’ll pick this up next weekend. I could have ordered online today from somewhere out of state but I’d rather support the local retailers, especially when it comes to these special releases, but it’s got to be a two-way streett, right? Doesn’t look like the track is online yet for listening. If it does not show up online over the next few weeks, I’ll upload and send to Mark in advance for scheduling. We know it was written in the 1990s (with Goffin), but earlier today I found some info online that indicates it’s a 1990s era Dave-only demo that was found a couple of years ago. It was supposed to be released digitally at that time, but did not appear until now on this vinyl.
Back in the Front Room This is a track I often seek out as a stand-alone song. It has such great upbeat energy combined with the very vivid storytelling dialogue-ish lyrics, capturing the buzz of the fledgling group making rapid progress and starting to see exciting possibilities ahead. I like how Ray sings that Dave played guitar like he talked and then imitates that guitar playing followed by the simple word "Exactly". It's a fast-paced track which takes a lot of twists and turns and just from the sound of this song it is clear that this early period of Ray, Dave and Pete playing together is a very happy memory for Ray. I guess many young bands can relate to neighbours and even police complaining about their loudness. I like how Davies Sr stuck up for his sons and their friend and Ray's imitation of him telling them, "Keep playing boys!" To me, this track is one of the big highlights on The Storyteller.
In my formative teen years “keep playing, boy, keep playing” is decidedly NOT what my dad told me. I was not allowed to play my drums if he were home. Luckily he excused himself from the house from early morning until early dusk even after retiring. So I usually had a couple of hours every day after school to play. My Mom was OK with it, buying me my first kit and offering encouragement and support. She tolerated it if she was home. Neighbors never complained or called the cops even though I did this every single day for years and years. What I did was play along to albums, in those years it was cassettes. I’d put a tape in, turn the volume all the way up so I could hear it over my drums, hit play, and get on with playing the whole album. In hindsight I think this was actually a good way of learning. I was in the band in school learning the formal and technical aspects, but the full kit side was learned by doing this play along with the album routine at home. I started with The Beatles albums at age 11 and 12 around 1979/1980 and went from there. My drums were set up in my bedroom at an angle to where I could glance out the window to see if my Dad was getting home at which point I stopped and turned the music off. Of course, several times I was so into it I missed his arrival until he was standing in my doorway with an irritated scowl on his face. I couldn’t turn it off fast enough! I recall one time in particular. I remember the song and I remember where in the song it was. It was “Machine Messiah” by Yes from the 1980 album Drama (the whole album is a drummer’s delight. Some of Alan White’s best work ever. Chris Squire is on fire on bass too). It was in the middle section where the band returns to the heavy bombastic intro again before moving into an acoustic section where the drums drop out for a bit. I knew that break was coming up so I felt I could wait and do my window check once that spot arrived. So I let fly Crash, Bash, Wallop, Pummel, just getting into it big time. There’s a Steve Howe lead guitar part here where he hits a particularly nasty, snarly lead and it was at this exact spot in the song when I spotted my Dad in the doorway with the most incensed expression I’d ever seen in my life. I fell off the drum throne and nearly broke my arm trying to get to my stereo fast enough. Turn that rubbish off indeed! I made sure I never missed his car again and I never did after that! I’m laughing my a** off remembering this today! One inadvertent consequence of not being able to play drums when he was around was it prompted me to get an acoustic guitar which I could play quietly enough when he was there and it would not disturb him. Later bought a cheap keyboard for the same reason. At that age in those years, I had to have an outlet for all this musical pursuit somehow each day. So I may not have bothered learning how to play other instruments had I been allowed to drum at will.
